Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $111.66 and last traded at $114.95, with a volume of 21,953,915 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.73.

Oracle News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Oracle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS reiterated its Buy rating and $250 price target, arguing that concerns about AI demand and supply are overstated. Other bullish coverage points to Oracle’s ambitious cloud and AI growth plans, including its long-term revenue targets. Oracle gets UBS backing
• Neutral Sentiment: Oracle reportedly walked away from a five-year, roughly $7 billion chip-leasing agreement with Tencent after U.S. government pushback. Some coverage describes the contract as modest relative to Oracle’s backlog, but its cancellation raises the possibility that other China-linked business could face scrutiny. Reuters report on the Tencent deal
• Negative Sentiment: The Tencent deal’s collapse removes a sizable prospective AI contract and underscores uncertainty around Oracle’s ability to serve international AI customers amid geopolitical restrictions. Oracle’s $7 billion AI deal collapses
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also assessing Oracle’s $20 billion financing package—about $10 billion in stock and $10 billion in debt, with some bonds carrying high coupons. The equity sale raises dilution concerns, while borrowing adds to questions about leverage, capital spending and future cash flow. Oracle faces questions after its funding plan

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ORCL. Stephens upgraded Oracle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $213.00 in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, September 14th. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.27.

Oracle Stock Down 6.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $140.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.10.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.13 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 48.85% and a net margin of 26.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. Oracle has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.850-1.930 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 8.100-8.100 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 31.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 2,631 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.70, for a total value of $399,122.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 64,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,956.90. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Sicilia sold 22,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.59, for a total transaction of $3,420,173.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 182,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,730,207.11. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 36,075 shares of company stock worth $5,342,123 in the last three months. 38.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 14,680,278 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,151,395,000 after acquiring an additional 123,294 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,251,059 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,949,363,000 after acquiring an additional 384,984 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 9,878,184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,447,648,000 after acquiring an additional 144,087 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,586,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,262,827,000 after purchasing an additional 147,048 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,516,878 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,248,148,000 after purchasing an additional 81,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company Profile

Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) is a global technology company that develops enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and database technologies. Its products help organizations store, manage, analyze and secure data, while supporting business operations across industries and geographies.

The company’s offerings include Oracle Database, Java, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and a broad portfolio of cloud-based applications. These applications serve functions such as enterprise resource planning, financial management, human resources, supply-chain management, customer experience and industry-specific operations.